Eubanks became a "model prisoner" to gain entry into an honor program.
: Lester Eubanks , who had a prior history of sexual offenses, confessed to the crime and was sentenced to death. [S2E3] Death Row Fugitive
: Mary Ellen had gone to a local laundromat to get quarters when she was abducted, shot twice, and beaten to death. Eubanks became a "model prisoner" to gain entry
: When it was time for the inmates to return to the designated meeting spot, Eubanks never showed up. He has been a fugitive for over 50 years. The Hunt for Lester Eubanks "Unsolved Mysteries" Death Row Fugitive (TV Episode 2020) : When it was time for the inmates
: In December 1973, prison officials remarkably allowed Eubanks and several other inmates to go Christmas shopping at a mall in Columbus, Ohio, entirely unsupervised .
In November 1965, 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener was brutally murdered in Mansfield, Ohio.
: In 1972, after the Supreme Court briefly ruled the death penalty unconstitutional, Eubanks' sentence was commuted to life in prison. The Escape: A Furlough Gone Wrong